


Fingers like Prunes

by andonlythinkofme



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andonlythinkofme/pseuds/andonlythinkofme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A vignette of Carol doing the washing. (Post season 2, Pre-season 3)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fingers like Prunes

**Author's Note:**

> A little scene I thought of while in class. Why do people do chores during the zombie apocalypse?

Her fingers looked like prunes, all squeezed up and red from prolonged exposure to water. Still, the washing had to be done and really, it wasn’t like anyone was looking at Carol’s hands anyway. She scrubbed the clothes on the washboard Glenn had found in an abandoned trailer park weeks ago. Every day when Carol pulled out the large wash bin, she thanked her lucky stars for the find. They’d lost the last bin when the farm went up in flames and washing clothes without one was not easy. 

“Need any help with that?” Beth’s sweet voice asked from behind Carol’s hunched form. The young girl was always buzzing around, trying to find work. Carol though it was because she didn’t want to think about her mother’s death. Carol could understand that.

“Yeah, do you see that branch over there?” Carol gestured to a low branch on the outskirts of camp. The group had decided to stop for the day in a small stretch of land surround by trees. The main road was still in view from their little camp, but the trees provided coverage from the sun and chilly winds that signaled winters approach. Most of the trees here grew long and wide, yet one of them was stunted, twisted at the base and molted around its limps, bending over close the ground instead reaching up for the sky. Frankly it was an ugly thing, but it was useful for hanging laundry on.

“Can you take these clothes and hang them on the branches?” Carol asked. Beth nodded enthusiastically, happy to have something to preoccupy her hands with, and grabbed the bundle of wet clothes beside Carol, hustling over to the tree to begin laying out the clothes. Carol watched Beth take her time. The young girl diligently shook out each article of clothing, check it for stains and holes, then carful hung them on the branch so that nothing touched.

“I’ve never seen a kid love doing chores so much.” Rick walked up to his friend.

“Does everyone feel the need to talk to me when I’m washing?” Carol asked the sheriff, a smile playing on her lips.

“It’s easier to talk when you’re not moving around doing things.” The sheriff shrugged. He got down on his knees next to the gray haired woman.

“Let me, you should take a break.” Carol easily moved aside for the man to take over the washing. Her fingers were starting to hurt anyway.

“Who’s on watch?” She asked after a few beats of shared silence. It was always easy being with Rick. He never felt the need to talk more than he had too.

“T-Dog and Daryl.” He responded.

“And Lori?”

“She’s with Carl. I think they’re taking a nap.”

Carol nodded her understanding. All in all, it seemed like a peaceful day. Everyone was going about doing normal things. With her eyes closed, Carol could image that they were all just camping out, like she used to when she was a little girl. She could pretend Pastor Charleston was setting up a fire and the rest of the kids in her youth group were setting up tents and laughing over the bugs they found crawling around in the dirt. Carol could still picture that life so clearly in her head. Yet, when she opened her eyes, she saw thin, tired people doing things so that they didn’t have to think about the horror the world had become.

“I think I’ll go join watch.” Carol stood up much to Rick’s surprise.

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Carol smiled down at the man, “I don’t like doing nothing.”


End file.
